RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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The Commemorative
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The Commemorative Quarter for New Mexico







Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Bernal, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bernal and the surrounding area.

  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Bernal:
    • 35.392823, -105.317509
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Bernal
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Waymark.com

Communities Also Named Bernal ...

We found three communities that share the name Bernal.

Within New Mexico, the name Bernal is unique.

Beyond New Mexico, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • San Francisco County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Bernal [San Francisco County].
    • Kansas
      • Reno County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Bernal [Reno County].
    • Texas
      • Hidalgo County
      • This Bernal is located in Hidalgo County and lies 769 miles [1,237.6 km]<2> to the southeast of the Bernal that is located in San Miguel County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hidalgo County community of Bernal.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bernal ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Aurora
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Aurora have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
    • Aurora is located in San Miguel County
  • Cedar Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
    • Cedar Hill is located in San Miguel County
  • Hot Springs
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Springs
    • Hot Springs is located in San Miguel County
  • Jack Canon Place
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jack Canon Place have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jack Canon Place
    • Jack Canon Place is located in San Miguel County
  • Mineral Hill
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mineral Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Hill
    • Mineral Hill is located in San Miguel County
  • Montezuma
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Park Springs
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Park Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Springs
    • Park Springs is located in San Miguel County
  • Trout Springs
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trout Springs
    • Trout Springs is located in San Miguel County

How Far From Bernal to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Bernal to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Bernal and extending to:

  • Las Vegas, which is the Seat of San Miguel County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Bernal to Las Vegas, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Santa Fe, which is the State Capital of New Mexico, lies 40 miles [64.4 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,568 miles [2,523.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of three days, a buggy would take 62 days and walking would take 89 days.
  • The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,133 miles [11,479.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,890 miles [12,697.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,801 miles [9,335.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bernal. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of New Mexico: https://www.nm.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Bernal could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Bernal) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bernal. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.3928, Longitude: -105.3175       In this case, the coordinates for Bernal have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<6>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Bernal to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 326.288 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 324.292 degrees.
<9>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 318.536 degrees.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 21 Apr 2025